‘It’s been amazing’: Hybrid starts strong
Students back in school Monday
The first day of hybrid learning at Brooklyn Park Elementary kicked off at 8:35 a.m. Monday as the first bunches of masked children streamed into the building.
A few buses were late — a common occurrence even for a traditional school day — and some students had momentary technology issues logging into the school’s hot spot, but overall the day has been smooth so far, Principal E. Rodney Walker said.
By around 10:30 a.m., breakfast had been served, students who had never been to the school before received tours and then got a well-earned break.
“To see kids on their Chromebooks as well as the virtual kids on screen it’s been amazing,” Walker said.
Countywide, about 39% of elementary students have chosen to participate in a return to classrooms through hybrid learning. About half of that group will be in school Monday and Tuesday for in-person learning.
The other half will go Thursday and Friday, with cleaning on Wednes
day. As for the rest of the school system, 36% of middle school students and 34% of high school students have chosen to participate in hybrid learning later this month.
By all accounts, the first day was successful, said Bob Mosier, county schools spokesman. Monday is a culmination of what the school system has been working toward for a year. By day’s end, there were no mass technology issues to report, though a handful of students did show up to their school on the wrong day or arrived thinking they had signed up for hybrid learning but had mistakenly selected the virtual option. All of those children were accommodated.
“It’s a lighter than normal first day in terms of traffic, for sure, but everything I have seen on social media and heard anecdotally from people who have talked to people in schools and talking to them myself is there has been an abundance of smiles and just thrilled to be back in a setting that really is where we all belong,” Mosier said.
County Executive Steuart Pittman was among the parents whose children chose hybrid learning, tweeting Monday that his kids “were happy to walk into [their Anne Around County Schools] building today, for something a little closer to normal.”
“Let’s show the teachers some grace and understanding today as they adapt to the challenges of hybrid teaching,” he added.
As parents have prepared their children to return to school, Walker has consistently communicated to parents that masks must be worn at all times. In the first few hours of the day Monday, there have been no mask compliance issues, he said.
The decision to choose hybrid or virtual learning was one all parents had to make. Systemwide about 40% of students opted for virtual learning while 23% did not respond and were automatically enrolled in virtual.
Erin Miller, of Annapolis, chose hybrid learning for her 8-year-old daughter Harper Chado, a second grader at West Annapolis Elementary School. The school had nearly 78% of its students choose hybrid learning, second most among the county’s 80 elementary schools.
The decision was a difficult one, Miller said, but ultimately came down to the reassurances she got from the school about safety and what she thought was best for her daughter’s mental health, which she said had worsened during the pandemic.
“I think that really helped sway me just knowing that at this point, like anything, it’s a gamble,” she said. “And so if I keep her home, her mental health definitely is not going to be good or recover as fast, if you will.”
In addition to a strict mask requirement, portable air ventilators, frequent temperature checks and COVID-19 testing, schools have a protocol for children who report feeling unwell or are exhibiting symptoms, Mosier said. And there are plans in place with the county health department for what to do at a school with a known positive. Each situation will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, he said.
“We’ll take that as it occurs,” he said.
“It’s certainly going to occur somewhere whether it’s today or tomorrow or Thursday or Friday; it’s going to happen.”
Other parents opted to keep their kids at home to finish the semester. Annapolis resident Ashley Harris said her two school-age children, Zaria, a second grader, and Zion, a fifth grader, who both attend Monarch Academy, will keep learning virtually. They are among the nearly 84% of Monarch students who chose, or were assigned, the virtual learning model this spring.
“I just want to keep them home where I know they will be OK,” Harris said.
Asked if she would consider sending her kids back to school in the fall, she said, “I’m going to look at any new precautions made or any new changes in the COVID crisis and see what happens from there. That will let me know if I’ll let them go back or not.”
Students in grades six, nine and 12 will return March 8, with 15 weeks until the end of the year. Students in the remaining grades will return on March 22, with 13 weeks left in the year.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced that some of the remaining time in the semester must be dedicated to testing in math and English. The Maryland State Board of Education voted to implement just the math and English portions of a new test, the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program while canceling others in science and social studies.
The decision has drawn criticism from some members of the county school board.
Monday morning, Milller helped her daughter pack up her rolling book bag with supplies she might need during the school day: laptop, charger, mouse, mousepad, books, pencil cases, and of course, hand sanitizer, gloves and extra masks.
“She was so excited, lit up, and could not wait. Imagine having a teacher you love, and you’ve never met her,” Miller said.
By 3 p.m., when she picked her daughter up, Harper had met her new teacher, saw her old instructors and friends she hadn’t seen in a year.
“She said she had the best day ever,” Miller said.